In the parlance of the North Dakota Legislature, a “hog house” amendment is a change to a bill that completely replaces the original text of the bill. Basically, it’s lawmakers taking an existing bill and turning it into something else entirely. That’s what happened to HB1283 today. It passed the state House as a bill…

This post is part of a continuing series highlighting the potential state legislative candidates from each district for their party’s nomination. For more information on this series, refer to the “SAB’s Guide To North Dakota District Conventions: A Government Of People Who Show Up” post. The Districts: 6, 14, 23, and 24 Click on a District number above for a map…

In a ridiculous and tortured interpretation of existing law, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that locked out American Crystal Sugar workers were entitled to unemployment benefits. Because the obvious legislative intent of the current law was disregarded by the court, the legislature is going to clarify the law for them. Senator Jerry Klein (R-Fessenden)…

Yesterday the North Dakota state Senate considered, and approved, three appointments to the State Board of Higher Education by Governor Jack Dalrymple. That three nominees were being considered all at one time is, in and of itself, remarkable. It’s the result multiple members of the SBHE leaving their terms on the board early in the…

The politics around compensation for elected officials are always strange. The taxpayers see lavish pay and perks as being unseemly, and perhaps rightfully so in some situations, but at times the public’s opposition to anything increasing the pay or comfort of public officials borders on the absurd. Right now many legislators serving in Bismarck are…